EA sued again over SecuROM DRM

Mega-publisher hit with a pair of new class-action lawsuits

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Electronic Arts has been hit with a new pair of class-action lawsuits over the company's controversial SecuROMdigital rights management (DRM) software used on the publisher's PC titles, such as Will Wrights critically-lauded and massively popular Spore.

In one case, Pennsylvanian Richard Eldridge claims that EA's Spore Creature Creator Free Trial Edition secretly installed SecuROM on his PC, which he claims is "deceptive and unlawful".

The lawsuit reads that: "The inclusion of undisclosed, secretly installed DRM protection measures with a program that was freely distributed constitutes a major violation of computer owners' absolute right to control what does and what does not get loaded onto their computers, and how their computers shall be used...

It continues: "[SecuROM] cannot be completely uninstalled. Once installed it becomes a permanent part of the consumer's software portfolio..."

The Sims breaks PC

In another, separate case, Dianna Cortez from Missouri, has made a similar claims against EA over the use of SecuROM on The Sims 2:Bon Voyage, which, the claimant argues caused immediate problems with her PC.

Cortez was only able to remove SecuROM from her machine by reformatting her PC and she is arguing that EA is guilty of engaging in "unfair business practices" and conduct that is "immoral, unethical, oppressive [and] unscrupulous..."